View full sizeAP fileFor all of the mystique that surrounded international talents available to the Cavaliers in the draft, there's more hard evidence that Tristan Thompson will be a productive player in the league, says Bill Livingston.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Five of the first seven players selected in the NBA draft were international players. Three were from Europe. Overall, six players from outside the United States went in the first round.

Moreover, Germany's Dirk Nowitzki was the Most Valuable Player in the NBA Finals.

Even though there has been only one Dirk, who also was the NBA's regular-season MVP in 2007, it seems American players must cover their heads these days. European three-pointers are raining down while American basketball, poor thing, is circling the drain.

That's one view of last week's draft. It's not really true that USA basketball is on the wrecker's hook, but it can feel that way sometimes.

Some observers would have preferred Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas at the fourth spot in the draft, where the Cavaliers took Texas freshman power forward Tristan Thompson instead.

Thompson is a Canadian, but his highest level of basketball was played in the NCAA. Same with his Texas teammate Cory Joseph, another Canadian. So the way to look at the difference between players is NCAA basketball, with its one-and-done rule disruptions, vs. mostly European professional leagues with their thinner talent.

Thompson is 20 years old, Valanciunas 19, although difficulties with Valanciunas' European club contract might keep him out of the NBA next season. Valanciunas, at 7 feet with a 7-4 wingspan, is a legitimate center. The 6-8 Thompson, with nearly a 7-2 wingspan, is a power forward, as is one of last year's better Cavs, J.J. Hickson.

The biggest problem is that Thompson can't be trusted on the floor in the final minutes because he shot only 48.7 percent from the line at Texas. As I argued Saturday, players who have not developed a consistent free-throw stroke in high school or college usually get worse in the NBA. Hectic travel, a glut of games and less time to practice are all factors.

Yet, without the almost-certain NBA lockout driving promising players back into the college ranks, fewer international players would have been selected. Only two went in the first round in 2010. Ohio State's Jared Sullinger and North Carolina's Harrison Barnes both returned to school because of labor uncertainty. They probably would have been picked in the first five this year.

Many things have changed in the nearly 20 years since the 1992 Dream Team hit the Olympic stage the way the Beatles hit the stage of the Ed Sullivan Show. The Euros improved with exposure to top competition. They also emphasized pure basketball skills.

"All Euros can shoot" is, however, simply untrue. I give you former Cav Jiri Welsch, firing a shot that curved like a draw in golf and landed in the lane during a game six years ago. "What [in Sam Hill] was that?" said LeBron James. Or words to that effect.

The Euros were the first to embrace the three-point shot as a revolutionary weapon. It stretched the defense and led to a more free-flowing game. The trapezoidal lane in international ball made the push-and-shove of post play more difficult. It also cut down the side-court space for the NBA's tiresome "two-man game."

The American game, by contrast, has sacrificed skill for athleticism for years. Yet Thompson has serious points in his favor vs. Valanciunas.

Start with the likelihood that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert's sometimes explosive competitiveness would make it hard for his front office to pick a "project" big man who would play in Europe next season, or, in the event of a contractual a buyout, would play only sparingly here.

Beyond that, Thompson averaged 13.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in over 30 minutes per game in the Big 12. The conference supplied six players to the draft's first round -- two other Longhorns, the Morris twins at Kansas and Alec Burks of Colorado.

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